From: NY Transfer News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [CubaNews] NY Transfer's RHC News Update-21 August 2001
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 21 August 2001
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*ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR MIAMI: NO LATIN GRAMMYS THIS YEAR
*VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA
*PRESIDENT OF THE PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAYS HOMAGE TO JOSE MARTI
*ARGENTINE SOLIDARITY GROUPS CREATE COORDINATING COUNCIL
*RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN NICARAGUA DEMAND RELEASE OF MIAMI 5
*ANTI-GLOBALIZATION GROUPS SUE WASHINGTON DC FOR BLOCKING RIGHT TO PROTEST
*HUGO CHAVEZ CRITICIZES REGIONAL SUMMITS, INTEGRATION MODEL
*FAMINE-STRICKEN NICARAGUANS TO MARCH ON MANAGUA
*NORTH CAROLINA'S ONSLOW COUNTY REFUSES TO BECOME ANOTHER VIEQUES
*Viewpoint: ARMS AND THE MAN: BUSH STYLE GLOBALIZATION
.
*ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR MIAMI: NO LATIN GRAMMYS THIS YEAR
Miami, August 21 (RHC)--The decision of organizers of the Latin Grammy music
awards to pull out of Miami has been called another black eye for a city
oftentimes accused of intransigence. When local authorities in Miami agreed
to allow anti-Cuba protesters to get closer to the event's venue than had
originally been agreed to, the National Academy of Recording Arts and
Sciences announced Monday that the show will be in Los Angeles.
Organizers rejected Miami for the first Latin Grammy show last year over the
same concerns. According to observers, loss of the site has left the divided
Cuban-American community in Miami more divided than ever. Some exiles who
had planned to protest the possible presence of Cuban musicians said they
were being unfairly blamed for the pullout.
But other exiles said the planned protests were misguided and cost the Cuban
community a spotlight to show its tolerance. Local media outlets in the city
today quoted Jos� Medina, a production manager at Sony, who said Miami
didn't deserve the Latin Grammys.
Medina said he didn't think an awards show that's about creativity and
freedom of speech should be in a city that doesn't know the meaning of
freedom of speech. He said the protesters had a right to protest, but that
to put them right in front of the arena venue is just asking for trouble.
The media has also quoted others who feared the event's exit from Miami
would further injure the exile image, still licking the wounds it took
during the community's battle to keep kidnapped Eli�n Gonz�lez from being
returned to Cuba. Noting that Miami is not just Cuban, Elena Freyre, who
often criticizes exile hard-liners, asked how does the city explain this to
the rest of the community. She said there are Colombians, Venezuelans,
Chileans - that it is a Latin event, not a Cuban event.
While hotel and club owners reacted with disbelief over loss of the
multi-million dollar opportunity, one prominent business leader said the
real impact isn't financial. Ramiro Ortiz, chairman of the Greater Miami
Chamber of Commerce, called it a lost opportunity where Miami could have
stood tall and told the rest of the world that the city is respectful of its
diverse community.
*VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA
Havana, August 21 (RHC)--Venezuela's Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso D�vila
will arrive in Havana on Thursday for an official visit at the invitation of
his Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque.
During his stay on the island, which lasts until Saturday, August 25th,
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Luis Alfonso D�vila is to meet with other
high-ranking Cuban officials, among them Cuban Parliament President Ricardo
Alarcon, Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas and the Minister for Foreign
Investment and Economic Cooperation Marta Lomas.
Maria Cristina Barroso, head of the advance group of the Venezuelan
delegation said that the upcoming visit of the top Venezuelan diplomat has a
significant importance for it will serve to further strengthen the already
excellent relations between Cuba and Venezuela.
While on the island, the Venezuelan visitors will also visit sites of
economic, social and cultural interest, including the International Health
Center "Las Praderas".
*PRESIDENT OF THE PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAYS HOMAGE TO JOSE MARTI
Havana, August 21 (RHC)--On Tuesday, the visiting President of the
Legislative Council of the Palestinian National Authority, Ahmed Qurej,
placed a floral wreath before the monument built to Cuban National Hero Jose
Marti at Havana's Revolution Square.
The Palestinian leader also met with Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Jose
Guerra Menchero.
During his stay in Cuba, which runs through next Monday, August 27th, the
distinguished visitor is scheduled to meet with authorities in Cuba's
Institute of Friendship with the Peoples ICAP, as well as with other
high-ranking officials, among them Cuban Communist Party's Political Bureau
Member Jose Ramon Balaguer, Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas and the
Vice President of the Cuban Parliament Jaime Crombet.
Cuba has always defended the Palestinian people's right to create an
independent state.
*ARGENTINE SOLIDARITY GROUPS CREATE COORDINATING COUNCIL
Buenos Aires, August 21 (RHC)--Various solidarity groups in Argentina in
the eastern part of Buenos Aires, the capital, have created a coordinating
council to improve their solidarity work with Cuba.The agreement was reached
during a solidarity meeting in the city of General Rodriguez. The aim, they
said, is to improve their work strategies in the solidarity with Cuba
movement. A final declaration issued at the end of the activity highlights
the fight against the U.S. blockade of Cuba and the pressure on the
Argentinean government to change its position at the United Nations Human
Rights Commission as main aspects of the solidarity work.
During the activity, the solidarity activists also demanded the release of
five Cuban nationals who were convicted in Miami on false charges of
threatening U.S. national security.
The solidarity with Cuba groups also committed themselves to exposing the
truth about the new form of domination Washington is trying to impose over
Latin America and the Caribbean, the so-called Free Trade Area of the
Americas or FTAA.
*RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN NICARAGUA DEMAND RELEASE OF MIAMI 5
Havana, August 21 (RHC)--Parishioners of La Merced Catholic Church in
Managua, Nicaragua, have demanded the release of the five U.S.-held Cuban
political prisoners.
During a solidarity with Cuba activity, where photos of the five Cuban
nationals were exhibited, Venezuelan priest Antonio Castro said the five men
are suffering an unjust conviction imposed by the U.S. government, in its
attempt to always put force above reason.
The Venezuelan priest characterized the unjust conviction and the
imprisonment of the five Cubans in Miami as an open aggression against the
Cuban people.
On hand for the solidarity event were members of the National Committee of
Friendship and Solidarity with Cuba in Managua, Nicaraguan legislators,
diplomats and Cuban residents in the Central American nation.
*ANTI-GLOBALIZATION GROUPS SUE WASHINGTON DC FOR BLOCKING RIGHT TO PROTEST
Washington, August 21 (RHC)--Faithful to a recent announcement,
anti-globalization groups in Washington, DC have filed a lawsuit against the
city's plans to isolate them from an upcoming gathering of the World Bank
and International Monetary Fund.
One of the groups, the International Action Center, termed as
unconstitutional police plans to create an exclusion zone some 20 square
blocks around the site of next month's meeting. Plaintiffs argued before a
local district court that the police have no right to convert the center of
the US capital into the private property of international financial
institutions.
International Action Center co-director Larry Holmes said his organization
has also accused the city's police of launching a slander campaign against
anti-globalization activists in an effort to demonize their image and
generate hysteria against those planning to protest.
Washington DC police are planning to install a ten-foot high, 3-kilometer
long metal fence around an extensive area that includes the White House and
the headquarters of the financial institutions. Police now say that some 100
thousand protesters could converge on the city next September 29th and 30th.
Fearing protests similar to those recently in Genoa, Italy during the Group
of 8 industrialized countries gathering, the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank last week announced that they were cutting short their summit by
3 days. They had originally planned to meet until October 3rd.
In related news, the Mayor's office in Washington DC has announced that it
will call on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to pay at least
part of the cost of security operations during the September gathering. In
an operation called exaggerated by the conservative "The Washington Times",
authorities in the US capital will spend more than 30 million dollars to
keep protesters away.
The two lending institutions, however, have always insisted that security is
the responsibility of the city or country hosting any of their events, and
the White House has indicated that neither will it contribute. A Washington
Times editorial called the ten-foot high metal fence, which alone will cost
close to 2 million dollars, the American version of the Berlin Wall in the
land of the free and the home of the brave.
*HUGO CHAVEZ CRITICIZES REGIONAL SUMMITS, INTEGRATION MODEL
Santiago de Chile, August 21 (RHC)--Visiting in Chile, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez has criticized the mediocrity of regional summits, the current
model of regional integration and the current system of representative
democracy. Speaking at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean in Santiago de Chile, Chavez said that gatherings
like last.
weekend's Rio Group Summit are superficial in their analyses of world
problems. He said heads of state go from one summit to the next, while the
region's peoples go from one bottomless pit to the next. The Venezuelan
President said they sign beautiful declarations in interminable documents,
but that compliance with these statements isn't guaranteed.
In terms of regional integration, Chavez said the process has to be
rethought out. He said a political commitment to integration should march
ahead of the process, but that it has mistakenly been placed behind. Chavez
again came out in favor of participatory democracy as opposed to
representative democracy. He said the bulk of the peoples' representatives
are getting rich in a socio-economic model in which inequalities are on the
rise.
The Venezuelan President came out in favor of not only allowing the people
to speak, but also allowing them to make decisions. As an example, he said,
Cuba's participation in all regional forums should be decided based on the
results of a continental referendum.
*FAMINE-STRICKEN NICARAGUANS TO MARCH ON MANAGUA
Managua, August 21 (RHC)--Thousands of famine-stricken Nicaraguans will
march on the capital, Managua, next Thursday to demand government
assistance. The announcement came from Sandinista Congressman Nelson Artola,
who chairs the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission.
Artola said the Matagalpa Coffee Growers Association and the mayors of that
province's municipalities most affected by the drought and coffee crisis are
organizing the protest. The announcement coincides with on-going criticism
of Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman's refusal to recognize the real
dimension of hunger in the country, resulting from drought in the Pacific
region, flooding in the Caribbean region and the financial collapse of
Nicaraguan coffee growers.
Like other political and grassroots leaders, Nicaraguan governmental Human
Rights Commissioner Benjamin Perez Monday called on Aleman to declare a
state of emergency that would allow for a rapid earmarking of emergency
funds and that would pave the way for international aid.
The Nicaraguan Parliament will gather Wednesday following a much criticized
53-day vacation. But the Parliament's first secretary, ruling party member
Pedro Joaquin Rios, said there will be no debate on a budget reform to face
the crisis.
*NORTH CAROLINA'S ONSLOW COUNTY REFUSES TO BECOME ANOTHER VIEQUES
Raleigh, August 21 (RHC)--Onslow County, in the US state of North Carolina,
has announced that it does not want to become another Vieques. Local
authorities unanimously agreed late Monday to call on President George W.
Bush to remove the nearby Camp Lejeune military base from the list of
alternatives to the US Navy's target practice range in Vieques.
Camp Lejeune is at the top of the list of sites prepared by military experts
in lieu of the US Navy's obligation to withdraw from Vieques in the year
2003. Onslow County authorities stated that the noise and damage caused by
the military exercises at Camp Lejeune, notably inferior to that caused by
the target practice in Vieques, has already tensed relations between local
civilians and the military.
Observers are commenting that Vieques is causing the White House a bigger
headache than expected. Alongside the stiff opposition to the Navy's
continued presence in Vieques - resulting in the arrest of numerous
respected civil rights and political leaders both in Puerto Rico and the
United States - the Pentagon is also coming up against opposition from
American residents of the proposed alternate sites.
*Viewpoint: ARMS AND THE MAN: BUSH STYLE GLOBALIZATION
Hunger, grinding poverty, plagues that exterminate huge swaths of cropland,
epidemics that threaten to wipe out entire countries and endless civil wars
that brutalize whole societies. Sounds like an account of the dark ages of
medieval Europe, but is in fact the reality of our world today. It appears
that humankind has learned little over the centuries. We can reach and even
colonize the Moon, but we cannot feed our own populations or stop killing
each other.
Every minute sees further advances in the concentration of the planet's
resources into the hands of an ever shrinking few. Some 20 or 30
corporations have globalized our world with ruthless aplomb, using
remarkable advances in science to consolidate their power. The new world
order of George Bush senior is carried to even greater extremes by his son,
George W. Bush, who represents the principle shareholders of these corporate
giants. This world order is perpetrated, as in history, with arms. But there
is a difference from the medieval era. The richest nations on earth gain
power by selling arms as well as maintaining them.
The United States, the richest and therefore the most powerful of them all,
is the leading purveyor of arms to the Third World, the leading buyer. Last
year saw a worldwide sales of arms reach almost $36 billion, of which,
according to The New York Times, Washington accounted for more than half at
$19 billion. Of this $19 billion, the underdeveloped world represented 68%
of the clientele, and the figure is rising. Egged on by the $1.6 billion
pumped into Bogot�'s coffers by the US Colombia Plan, other South American
nations have rushed to gain an equal armament footing on what has become a
regional arms race as a result of what is seen as Washington's
militarization of Colombia. As most of the arms that Chile, Argentina and
Brazil buy come from the US, the $1.6 billion supposed "drug interdiction
funds" was a good investment in promoting further arms purchases throughout
the region.
Thus, huge sums of money that could be spent to alleviate the suffering of
the poor and disenfranchised of the Third World, go toward the enrichment
and expanded power of the US.
This is the globailzation that attracts George W. Bush. Not the
globalization of medical care or food distribution or technical advances,
but rather a globalization that profits a wealthy First World few at the
cost of countless lives of Third World poor.
(c) 2001 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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